Opinion After the speech

The PM’s words are enormously welcome — but they are not reassuring enough. On Kashmir, he has indicated a softer, more generous line, but that possibility and promise is being belied on the ground every day by his own party and government. In the past few months, the BJP has struck war-like postures in the Valley and most recently, the NDA government appears to be stoking old anxieties on the question of the state’s special status. The reopening of debate on Article 35 A, which empowers the J&K legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide them special rights and privileges, is both misguided and dangerous, but there is little indication so far that the Centre recognises the damage it can potentially wreak.

Then, violence continues in the name of faith, defined as gau raksha (cow protection) or nationalism, and it targets members of the minority community. Again, neither the PM’s party nor his government have sent out firm or unequivocal signals that they find this hounding of Muslims intolerable. In fact, the diktat to madrasas to give videographed proof of their patriotism in the run-up to I-Day in the BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh is part of a troubling pattern. Lastly, the PM’s call of “Bharat jodo” sits uneasily with the strident denunciations by his party colleagues of former vice president Hamid Ansari for speaking about growing Muslim insecurities amid the ascendant majoritarianism.

Perhaps the PM’s I-Day speech has clarified the challenge for his remaining term in office. He must ensure that the gap is closed between his message and the implementation — on Kashmir, on religious violence and on the need for coming together across faultlines. At the Red Fort, the PM gestured to a high ground. He must now ensure that his party and government step up to it.